4K Random Read/Write

Each QD for every parameter tested includes 300 data points (five minutes of one second reports) to illustrate the degree of performance variability. The line for each QD represents the average speed reported during the five-minute interval.

4K random speed measurements are an important metric when comparing drive performance, as the hardest type of file access for any storage solution to master is small-file random. One of the most sought-after performance specifications, 4K random performance is a heavily marketed figure.

The Toshiba MG03ACA400 scores in-between the two competitors with an average of 180 IOPS at QD256, only falling slightly by 10 IOPS to the Seagate Enterprise Capacity V.6.

The Toshiba MG03ACA400 falls into a very tight range of performance with its competitors, averaging 199 IOPS in comparison to the Seagate V.6 with 205 IOPS at QD256 in our 4K write testing. The Western Digital SE trails closely behind with an average of 198 IOPS.

Our write percentage testing illustrates the varying performance of each solution with mixed workloads. The 100% column to the right is a pure write workload of the 4K file size, and 0% represents a pure 4K read workload.

The Toshiba manages to beat the Western Digital SE with its mixed read/write workload performance, but falls behind the Seagate V.6 in the 60-90% range.

The Toshiba comes extremely close to tying the Seagate V.6 in overall latency, providing 57,897 I/O's (97.9%) at 100-200ms, and the remaining 1236 I/O's (2.09) in the 200-400ms range. The V.6 only edges the Toshiba by a mere .1% in this test.

We record the power consumption measurements during our test run at QD256, and we calculate the stated average results during the last five minutes of the test.

The Toshiba MG03ACA400 averages 9.63 Watts, above the competing solutions. It is important to note that the difference of only .7 Watts needs to be taken into consideration with the IOPS to Watts results below.

IOPS to Watts measurements are generated from data recorded during our test. The Toshiba HDD delivers an average of 22.4 IOPS per Watt for 4K random writes, and 20 IOPS per Watt for 4K random read access.